Chapter 578: Chapter 578: Nanny Tao
"Second Sister, you should try this; it’s called almond cake, sweet and fragrant, really delicious," Brother Cheng handed a piece of almond cake to Gu Jinli.
Gu Jinli took it and bit into it, "It’s mediocre. Someday, Second Sister will make you something much tastier."
Brother Cheng’s eyes sparkled, and he smiled happily, "You have to keep your promise, Second Sister. Remember to make something delicious for Brother Cheng."
After seeing Gu Jinli nod, he went on to distribute the almond cakes to Third Grandpa, Third Grandma, Mrs. Cui, and Gu Dashan, "Dad, Mom, try this, it’s fragrant."
Saying so, he stuffed an almond cake into Mrs. Cui’s mouth.
Mrs. Cui smiled and ate the almond cake, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, "This thing crumbles, be careful when you eat it, don’t make a mess everywhere. This outfit of yours was newly made for going to school, it cost half a tael of silver, it’s quite expensive."
Back in their old home, their family used to spend a dozen or so copper coins to buy other people’s old clothes to wear, never have they worn outfits that cost half a tael of silver each.
Brother Cheng grinned and nodded at Mrs. Cui before running to Gu Jin’an for a hug but was pushed away by him, "Have you done your homework? You’ve been playing so much, if you can’t finish it, you won’t be able to sleep."
Master Xia is strict with Brother Cheng; his homework is heavy, and after returning home every day, Brother Cheng has a lot to do.
The very mention of this made Brother Cheng’s eyes brim with tears, and he clung to Gu Jin’an, "Big Brother is the best. Brother Cheng wants to learn characters with Big Brother instead of going to school."
He thought going to school would be like Brother Wang and the others, many children learning together, but at Master Xia’s house, it was just him alone, not to mention the endless homework, which made him fall asleep while writing last night.
Gu Jinli felt a bit of heartache for him and said to Brother Cheng, "If you can’t finish it just don’t, Master Xia wouldn’t dare hit you for not handing in your homework."
Indeed, due to Brother Cheng’s status, Master Xia wouldn’t dare hit him; at most, he could only punish him by facing the wall to reflect.
But Gu Jin’an objected, "You can’t spoil him like this; you have to let him gradually adapt to school life."
He pulled Brother Cheng out of his embrace, "Go back to the room and write."
Brother Cheng was on the verge of tears, "I can’t finish..."
Seeing the little guy’s tearful face, Gu Jin’an felt helpless, "Start writing, write as much as you can. If you really can’t finish, Big Brother will talk to Master Xia tomorrow, see if he can give you less homework."
Brother Cheng cheered up, wiped his tears, and ran back to the room to write.
However, Master Xia assigned too much homework. After sneaking a peek, Gu Jin’an realized that as a small child, Brother Cheng indeed couldn’t finish it.
The next day when he went to pick up Brother Cheng, he mentioned this issue.
After listening, Master Xia reviewed Brother Cheng’s homework and eventually decided to cut it in half... The child was too young, learning too harshly could harm his health; he had been too anxious.
Brother Cheng, learning that his homework had been reduced by half, was very happy and grew closer to Master Xia again.
Once Brother Cheng had adjusted to school, the group from Doctor Wu arrived at Gu Jinli’s house.
There was a total of twenty-three people led by an old nanny.
The old nanny’s last name was Tao, nearing sixty, a very experienced and well-mannered person.
There were also a man named Uncle Dai in his forties and an Aunt Hong in her thirties, both were Nanny Tao’s right-hand man and woman.
When Gu Jinli went to receive them after hearing the news, Nanny Tao was in tears talking to Elder Wu. Seeing her arrive, she quickly got everyone up and kneeled down to her, "This old servant greets the Young Master."
Gu Jinli hurriedly helped her up, saying, "You must not do this, please get up quickly."
Doctor Wu said, "This girl doesn’t like kneeling and thanking; as long as you are loyal, she will treat you sincerely. Stand up now."
Hearing this, Nanny Tao and the others got to their feet one after another.
Doctor Wu took out a box and handed it to Gu Jinli: "This is the indenture of Nanny Tao and the others. It has been exchanged for a red deed at the government office. Take it, from now on they are your servants, their lives and deaths are in your hands."
Gu Jinli received it and looked over each of the indenture contracts.
Doctor Wu continued to explain the backgrounds of Nanny Tao and the others: "They had all been with me before, then followed your Aunt Wu, but more than twenty years ago, they came back... They have suffered some, but rest assured, their status now is all above board, they won’t cause you any trouble."
Doctor Wu, afraid that Gu Jinli would worry, recounted the backgrounds of Nanny Tao and the others in detail.
After listening, Gu Jinli was reassured and said to Doctor Wu: "I understand your intentions. As long as the Gu Family does not fall, they will have a place to spend their old age."
Doctor Wu, upon hearing this, nodded gratefully and had Han Liu and Mu Tong drive Xuanhu Fang’s mule cart to deliver Nanny Tao and the others to the Gu Family’s pharmaceutical workshop.
Han Liu was not himself today, nearly overturning the mule cart, which gave Gu Jinli quite a scare, but Mu Tong seemed to relish the drama, and Gu Jinli immediately realized... there were juicy gossips afoot.
And the villagers had grown accustomed to Gu Jinli’s house frequently buying servants; they didn’t find the arrival of Nanny Tao and the others novel at all, merely marveling that the Gu Family really was flourishing, continuously purchasing batches of servants.
With the addition of Nanny Tao and her group, Gu Jinli was much relieved, and to her delight, Uncle Dai turned out to be a doctor, making the work of medicine production much more efficient.
Nanny Tao proved to be a strong hand in managing day-to-day affairs; she began touring the workshop the very day she arrived and, under Gu Jinli’s instruction, started to reorganize the pharmaceutical workshop three days later, dividing it into four smaller production yards.
One small yard was used to make mosquito incense, managed by Ye Dakou.
One small yard was used to make tooth powder, managed by Ah Shi. Ah Shi had caught Nanny Tao’s eye, who said that although Ah Shi didn’t understand pharmacology, she was able to organize work well, having the makings of a housekeeper.
Another yard was used to make scar removal ointment, temporarily managed by Han Liu. If in the future a suitable young man could be found for this work, he would replace Han Liu.
Apart from overseeing the production of the scar removal ointment, Han Liu also had the task of training Qiu Lang and the others in martial arts. Gu Jinli bought Qiu Lang and the others not only for labor, but also to have them work normally and be able to pick up weapons to protect their masters in times of war.
Another yard was designated for future production of Convenient Medicine, which was managed by Uncle Dai.
Uncle Mu Tong was in charge of the overall procurement and distribution for the entire pharmaceutical workshop, while Aunt Hong took care of the workshop’s everyday affairs, as well as the girls’ needs for food, clothing, and shelter.
Nanny Tao was the overall manager; anyone in the workshop, male or female, could come to her with any issue.
Ye Jingzi continued to assist in the pharmacy, remaining as Gu Jinli’s right hand.
After Nanny Tao’s reorganization, the whole pharmaceutical workshop became more smoothly operated, and Gu Jinli no longer had to worry about managing the minute details.
Moreover, Gu Jinli found out that the person who seemed to have made Uncle Han Liu act foolishly was Aunt Hong, who stammered while speaking in her presence... Uncle, you’re well into your thirties, is there a need to be shy about liking a girl?
Nanny Tao did not hide it from Gu Jinli, telling her about Han Liu and Aunt Hong’s relationship.
In the past, they were already engaged, but an incident occurred on Aunt Wu’s side, which led to them going their separate ways. Now they had met again, and she hoped to see them become a couple eventually, but whether it could happen would depend on their fate.
Gu Jinli’s eyes lit up: "There’s even more juicy gossip, and it’s aged gossip, extra rich."